Great Book of Fairy Patterns: The Ultimate Design Sourcebook for Artists and Craftspeople [Paperback]

Lora S Irish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

The history, mythology, and composition of angels, cherubs, fairies, pixies, and sprites are detailed in this handbook of fairy patterns. More than 72 fairy patterns for all mediums are featured, including dragonfly, sugar plum, and woodland fairies. The physical features of fairies and fairy backgrounds are examined in depth, including instructions for face and body painting that apply to all fairy re-creations. Comprehensive descriptions of different types of fairies accompanied by their folk histories provide a useful context for all fairy enthusiasts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the ultimate design sourcebook for artists and craftspeople. Appropriate for craftspeople of all levels." -- BellaOnline

About the Author

Lora S. Irish runs a pattern design business and is the author of Great Book of Dragon Patterns, Landscapes in Relief, North American Wildlife Patterns for the Scroll Saw, and Wildlife Carving in Relief. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565232259
• ISBN-13: 978-1565232259
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lora S. Irish is the author of Landscapes in Relief and Wildlife Carving in Relief. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not inspired, April 5, 2006

By 

Heidi Morris - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Book of Fairy Patterns: The Ultimate Design Sourcebook for Artists and Craftspeople (Paperback)

Too stereotyped. These are fairies everyone has seen before. Plus, the artwork itself it not terribly great, not something I'd want to imitate.

For wing patterns and any other textures found in nature, I would go to the source itself instead of getting the info second-hand in a book like this. To study wing shapes and patterns, try A World Of Butterflies by Brian Cassie, et al; The Butterfly Handbook by Dr. Lee Miller; or Night Visions by Joseph Scheer, which has incredible close-ups of moths. The figures of the fairies themselves can be handled by learning simple figure drawing, and there are plenty of magazines and books with models in them to give you a reference. For beginners with a good eye, Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy by Christopher Hart is a good place to start.

Focusing only on fairies will limit your artistic sensibility and talent. If you learn the parts, then you can create based on your own imagination and not on how someone else tells you things should look.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, December 9, 2005

By 

Brynn Fraser (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Book of Fairy Patterns: The Ultimate Design Sourcebook for Artists and Craftspeople (Paperback)

The art was not as refined or advanced as I expected it to be. I bought this for my daughter, who is an artist and enjoys creating 'fantasy-style' art through various media. I hoped this might inspire her and give her ideas to advance her skills, but her own work is already much more advanced than the patterns in this book. She is interested in patterns for clay sculpture and wood-carving, as well as sketches and oil media, but the 2 dimensional sketches in this book don't really support more than a beginner's guide to sketching fairies. If you are a beginner in the art of drawing fairies, this is probably a good choice. If you are intermediate or advanced as an artist, I suggest you look for something else.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest pattern book ever!, June 13, 2004

By 

Paula Manning (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Book of Fairy Patterns: The Ultimate Design Sourcebook for Artists and Craftspeople (Paperback)

I am a fantasy artist and I use alot of patterns. This is the greatest pattern book I have ever seen. Tons of patterns and very good sized. There's an editorial on fairies, wing styles section, fairy outfit helps section and a pattern for a fairy manikin that you can make and pose to help draw your own fairies. The patterns are very well drawn. The cover and pages are thick and good quality paper. Its a large book. I would strongly nudge anybody whom is into crafts and hobbies or art to buy this book. It is well worth the money +. I also bought Lora's other book "Great Book of Dragon Patterns" I give it the same rave I gave this book. Do yourself a favor and buy her books.